3 ms·

I'm not sure I buy the argument that you have to eliminate other media habits in order to become a reader. When I was younger I watched loads of TV, beat Zelda

I'm not sure I buy the argument that you have to eliminate other media habits in order to become a reader. When I was younger I watched loads of TV, beat Zelda and Super Mario Bros, honed my Gameboy Tetris skills to near Woz-level, watched skateboard videos over and over again to analyze the moves, futzed around with Amigas and Macs and PCs for hours, ran up my dad's phone bill with long-distance BBS charges, etc. I also read 2-5 entire books per week, got a perfect score on the verbal section of the SAT and the reading comprehension portion of the ACT and subsequently got a full ride academic scholarship to college. I'm also not convinced that reading a bunch of junk books is actually a great use of one's time. I have a lot of nerd friends who never read anything other than HOWTOs and they are much better at their mathematical software jobs than I am. I can read a 300 page crime novel in about 90 minutes, but what's the point?

awakeasleep 16y ago
I agree with you 100%. Trouble brews when people are illiterate, but unless you're pursuing a literary career, there isn't too much use for reading fiction. Nonfiction has its own benefits that attract anyone who wants to learn in general, or has complex goals. Remember the phrase 'bookworm'? It wasn't always a cute alternative to the word nerd. I know about it, because I wasted years of my life reading crap fantasy novels, hardy boys casefiles, etc.
- xyzzyz 16y ago
  You mentioned an interesting point. Is the time spent on reading crap books really wasted? I wouldn't say so. It helps telling good books apart from bad ones. Reading wide variety of books makes one's taste more sophisticated. Also, mere familiarity with some books can be helpful in some social settings, when we want or need to make friends with people who read those books too.
  - awakeasleep 16y ago
    True, I wouldn't say wasted, but I believe there are sharply diminishing returns for the classes of books I was referring to.
protomyth 16y ago
My Mom loves movies and TV, so we always had the TV on. I still learned to read and keep reading. I always figured love grows out of a desire for something not the limiting of something else. When the kids get to an age and place where they get to make the decisions, such restricted items might take over.

awakeasleep 16y ago

I agree with you 100%. Trouble brews when people are illiterate, but unless you're pursuing a literary career, there isn't too much use for reading fiction. Nonfiction has its own benefits that attract anyone who wants to learn in general, or has complex goals. Remember the phrase 'bookworm'? It wasn't always a cute alternative to the word nerd. I know about it, because I wasted years of my life reading crap fantasy novels, hardy boys casefiles, etc.

xyzzyz 16y ago
You mentioned an interesting point. Is the time spent on reading crap books really wasted? I wouldn't say so. It helps telling good books apart from bad ones. Reading wide variety of books makes one's taste more sophisticated. Also, mere familiarity with some books can be helpful in some social settings, when we want or need to make friends with people who read those books too.
- awakeasleep 16y ago
  True, I wouldn't say wasted, but I believe there are sharply diminishing returns for the classes of books I was referring to.

protomyth 16y ago

My Mom loves movies and TV, so we always had the TV on. I still learned to read and keep reading. I always figured love grows out of a desire for something not the limiting of something else. When the kids get to an age and place where they get to make the decisions, such restricted items might take over.